Judge Seals Defense Requests That Trial Be Postponed
Michael Jackson's attorneys have requested that the trial start-up date for Mr. Jackson be postponed. Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville sealed the defense's motion on Wednesday. He gave no other reason to seal the motion other than a "good cause having been shown."
It is not publicly known what date the defense requested. All parties in the case are under a restricted gag order, therefore preventing them to comment when the trial may begin.
In May, Judge Melville set a target date of September 13th to start the trial. However, he did acknowledge that both sides might not be ready to present their case. The defense team claimed that the prosecution still had not given all of the evidence to them to examine on time.
The defense subpoenaed District Attorney Thomas Sneddon and six officers in connection to their role of the November 18th search of Private Investigator, Bradley Miller?s Beverly Hills office. The prosecution claims they did not know that Mr. Miller worked for Defense Attorney Mark Geragos, who was replaced in April by Defense Attorney Thomas Messereau. The prosecution claims they thought he worked for Mr. Jackson instead.
The defense filed a motion on June 8th that District Attorney Thomas Sneddon personally conducted a surveillance of Mr. Miller?s office. Then on November 18th invaded the office by using a sledgehammer to break down the door.
The defense said evidence obtained in the search should be returned to Mr. Jackson?s attorneys because police had no right to search Mr. Miller?s office due to attorney-client privilege. Prosecution has no right to learn the communication between the defendant and his attorneys under this privilege.
A defense motion on June 22nd asked that Judge Melville not allow the evidence, including videotapes and computer hard drives, to be admitted at trial.
The defense motion cited a memo drafted by the District Attorney that said he had visited the building where Mr. Miller?s office was located, photographed a list of offices there, and climbed the stairs to the second floor in an unsuccessful search for Miller?s office.
Mr. Sneddon proceeded to take several photographs of the building, then went to a phone booth where he looked up Mr. Miller?s telephone number. Afterwards he went to a meeting where he displayed driver license photos of Mr. Miller and others. The name of the person who saw the pictures was deleted from the court records released last Thursday.
Prosecutors responded that they had no evidence that Mr. Miller was working for Mark Geragos, who was Mr. Jackson?s attorney at the time of the search.
They also cited that the office of a lawyer or private investigator could be searched if prosecutors had reason to believe it held evidence not covered by attorney-client privilege.
In last Friday?s hearing, Judge Melville was ready for the defense to question the witnesses of the search, but Mr. Jackson's attorney, Robert Sanger, said he didn?t have sufficient time to look over documents that the prosecution handed over the night before. Therefore they needed more time before they could question the District Attorney and the officers.
Judge Melville reluctantly agreed, and ordered the District Attorney to testify in an upcoming hearing on July 27th.
"Every time we set a hearing it upsets the whole court structure here," Judge Melville said, alluding to adjustments made by Santa Maria court officials to accommodate the masses of media who cover the case against Mr. Jackson. "You're not being considerate of the demands of the court system."
Mr. Sneddon opposed the delay. He said "I'm prepared to testify in open court in front of everybody and get it done with. I have nothing to hide."
However, due to Mr. Sanger?s request for delay, Mr. Sneddon was miffed, shook his head, and threw his papers down on the counsel table and said ?I?ll be here.? Mr. Sneddon had planned on taking a vacation to celebrate his 37th wedding anniversary.
Judge Melville at first appeared unsympathetic to Mr. Sneddon's tantrum, noting that he himself had cut a July vacation short because of the case.
"If I can cancel my vacation, I guess you can cancel yours," he said.
Mr. Sneddon, visibly agitated about Melville's decision, sat in his seat with his face reddening and finally said, "All right, I'll be here."
Judge Melville later said that he didn?t want Mr. Sneddon to miss his vacation. "I'm sorry I'm upsetting you," Judge Melville said. "I don't want to upset anybody."
Judge Melville changed his mind and said Mr. Sneddon could give his testimony after his vacation or through a taped deposition.
Sources: Associated Press
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